High school drinking fountain

Image from hawsco

Writing about water fountains yesterday got me thinking. Water is essential for brain and body function and we often get dehydrated. My Grades 8 and 9 ESL kids really needed their water breaks. Junior high is puberty time and as their bodies changed, many of my students found it hard to keep still. When they asked to go for drinks of water, I let them. Once day a kid named Archie went to the water fountain and didn't come back. At the end of the day, the office told me he had transferred out.

Sometimes the kids would skip class. When they returned, I would ask them where they had been. "At the library," said Manuel, with mendacious virtue. "Anyway, I'm thinking of transferring out."

Manuel's first language was Portuguese. His English conversation skills were good but he couldn't read or write very well yet. He was learning the ropes, but I also knew the transfer game. Kids with ESL backgrounds, as well as troubled or academically weak kids, would try to enter the transfer mill. Three or four schools later, when the year was nearly over, they would transfer back.

"No, Manuel," I said, looking him firmly in the eye. "You are not going anywhere. Starting tomorrow, you are going to be here every day for the rest of the semester." I guess he appreciated feeling wanted, because he didn't transfer and didn't miss another class.

By the end of the term, Manuel had improved his reading and writing skills tremendously. To help him concentrate, he relied on frequent breaks to go to the water fountain.